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Astitch
Astich (formally spelled as ASStitch) was an American alternative metal band from Nashua, New Hampshire. The band joined in 1994 and became fully established later that year. They started off as an underground metal band before getting discovered by Fred Durst and Jonathan Davis. They briefly served under Flip Records through Interscope before switching to Dreamworks and Elementree. The band performed the most prevalently with Deadsy, Orgy and Powerman 5000. History The band was the brainchild of Trina Riffin, and was envisioned when she was in her sophomore year. Riffin was uncertain of what direction she wanted to take her life when she graduated. After moving to Delta County, she hosted an open mic night at a local cafe and was encouraged to go into music herself after a series of successful performances done by her. Riffin answered an ad in a local paper by future members Sandra Le Blanc and Birch Small, who were looking for two additional members to start a band of their own. Riffin was accepted after bonding with Le Blanc and Small over music and personal interests. They originally performed under the name Uprise, doing cover songs, and gradually garnered a small following. They took residence in New Hampshire and did a set with another independent band. They performed together and decided to make it a full time deal after a successful set and the chance to perform more ambitious songs. The band then acquired a house in Nashua and used it as an independent recording hub throughout their career. To bookend their new venture, they changed their name to Astitch once they were fully established and began searching for record deals. The name Astitch was inspired a nihilistic man who had his buttcheeks sewn together as a means of self-torment, someone the band heard about via word of mouth. It was spelled as ASStitch until 1999, when the band shortened it to signify a change in their sound. They produced albums under their own record label, Tastebud Society, getting backed by venue support and family loans. The band performed a gig in Bakersfield, California, where they got to meet Jonathan Davis of Korn and Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit and were interested in working under either. They went with the latter first, releasing their debut album and an EP through Flip/Interscope, only to drop out after being unsatisfied with Durst's management. They went with Davis and he helped to get them signed to Elementree Records with a bookending deal by Dreamworks. While they were able to leave Flip, they had a much longer, 5-year contract with Interscope. Since Dreamworks was distributed by Interscope, the label agreed to co-represent the band until their contract ran out, it doing so in 2002. For their next major album, they teamed up with Rob Caggiano and GGGarth, and shifted their focus to emphasis on melody and more concise instrumentation. The result, Conten(m)pt, became their most recognized release, garnering favorable reviews, but undersold due to the album coming out five days shy of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. They released their final album in 2003 and parted ways with Elementree soon after. Among their reasons were poor communication and conflict over the management the band signed to. Elementree was represented by The Firm, who represented Davis, but the band signed to No Name Management without Davis' or The Firm's knowledge, something that also affected Dreamworks as the band routinely ignored orders by them over how to manage their releases, with the band claiming they wanted them to adopt a commercial sound. The two reached a mutual understanding, but Dreamworks went out of business by 2004. The band went on hiatus in 2004 due to Dreamworks becoming defunct, only resurfacing to perform a gig alongside Evanescence, OTEP and Kittie in 2005 before resuming it. In December of 2008, the band announced on their MySpace page that they broke up. In spite of no longer being active, the band received a resurgence of popularity following the election of President Donald Trump in 2016, where they associate the content in the band's songs (notably Conten(m)pt) with events that occurred following his inauguration. They also receive modest recognition in New Hampshire since they were one of the few metal bands in the state to make it big. Style Genres the band were classified under included alternative metal, nu metal, groove metal and industrial metal. Riffin cites White Zombie, Guns N' Roses, The Residents, Yes, Acid Bath, The Smiths and Alice in Chains as her prime influences. The band garnered notoriety for having a large roster of members and their means of managing each member. They had five guitarists and two keyboardists, along with a drummer, a percussionist, a sampler and two vocalists. Riffin does harsher vocals and flows while Le Blanc does calmer vocals, though sometimes they switch. The first guitarist is in charge of the heavier riffs while the third one does mellower strings. The rhythm guitarist acts as the band's metronome whenever the bassist seeks to do more complicated bass lines, depending on the song. The keyboardists typically play the first five keys on their board and come out when the song's at its climax. The drummer and percussionist play in unison, though the latter takes full control during calmer portions of each song. The percussionist commanders metallic drums with an industrial band stretched out over it, which when struck forms an amplified bass-like sound. Lastly, the sampler controls the volume in the instruments, done to replicate studio recordings and place higher emphasis on key instruments. Per visuals, the band employs a heavily surrealist and avant-garde aesthetic, taking influence from the likes of David Lynch and The Residents. These are evident in the artwork for most of the albums, utilizing visual horror (ASSembly Required), surrealism (Exile) and shock value (Conten(m)pt). Until 2001, the band also put their surrealism influence toward their on-stage visage. They donned matching schoolgirl uniforms (changing it to suits briefly due to accusations of them ripping off Deadsy's appearance) and pale makeup, along with black contact lenses, giving them an alien-like appearance. For a time, they also chose assumed names (going by the Zodiac signs) and were relatively anonymous. In 2001, the band adopted a more casual visage, wearing regular clothes and using their actual names. Members Trina Riffin: lead vocals/rapping Sandra Le Blanc: vocals Hortence Polak: guitar, custom strings Sam Sharp: guitar Laura Powers: guitar Melissa Mipson: bass guitar Shauna Chalmers: Ztar Julie Saiko: keytar Tambry Camacho: drums Tammy Kanker: percussionist Stacey Dodge: electronic drums Birch Small: keyboard Wendy Coudoroy: samples, electronics, keyboard Releases Albums * Sir Eats a Lot (1998) * Conten(m)pt (2000) * Exile (2001) * Humiliation. Infuriation. Decimation. (2003) Demos/EPs *ASStitch (1996) *Staff Infection (1997) *ASSembly Required (1999) Misc. * Astitch/Orgy Sampler (2000)